Avatar: The Second to Last Airbender
by SuperOreoMan
Summary: Anala has a secret; she can bend both Air & Fire. She befriends Aang & joins his voyage to master all the elements. As the end of the war draws nearer, Anala discovers a new power; A power that could end the war-& perhaps do something far more important.
1. Caught

**I have recently become obsessed with Avatar; the Last Airbender.**

**So I wrote an Avatar Fanfic.**

**I do not own Avatar; the Last Airbender. Just my OC, and her secret. Ooooh, betcha can't wait to find out what _that _is, huh?**

**Well, you'll have to wait. And it's not in this chapter; that's a different secret than the huge one you'll all find out down the road. And even she doesn't know it.**

**PS, I've never written in present tense before, so sorry if it switches to past tense. I'm pretty sure I fixed it all, though...**

**PPS, Her name's Anala. Just thought I'd let you know, cuz since it's in her pov, it's not really mentioned that much.**

**And now, without further ado...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Book 1**  
Water

**Chapter 1  
**Caught

* * *

It's a very nice day outside; for the southernmost of the Earth Kingdom islands. Sunny, hardly any clouds in sight, and not too cold, considering where we live. I walk down the hill that leads to the beach of the cove, daring to go for a swim at such a nippy time of year. Once I'm at the water's edge, I pull my coat off, along with my warm pants, until I'm just in a sleeveless top and shorts. I walk to where the sand is wet, and wait until the next wave comes in and sweeps over my feet. A shiver rolls through my body; it's _freezing_.

I bend a ball of air around my head, big enough that it's about three times the size of my skull. I then leap into the icy water of the cove, shivering as I float in it's frosty depths. When I'm relatively used to the cold, I duck underwater and swim downward; driving further and further. At last I reach the bottom of the cove, only about 11 feet under. I gaze at all the subtly colored fish darting from one plant to the next, ornate coral protruding from ageless stone, and playful Lion Whales swimming in figure eights around me, seemingly unaware of the water temperature.

I swim further out, feeling less and less comfortable as the bubble of air around my head shrinks with the growing depth and pressure. Soon after, I begin to feel the effects of the water pressure against my body, and decide to return to the surface as my head grows dizzy with lack of oxygen. As I burst from the water, I take a huge, airbender-sized breath before falling back into the waves, only to bob to the surface moments later.

As I look around, it is suddenly very dark outside. Sinister storm clouds cover the sun, and now dark snow is littering the beach. But it wasn't yet cold enough for snow, and I hadn't been under _that _long. I swim towards the shore, using my airbending to speed along the process. When I reach the beach, I bend down to examine the snow, only to discover that it is ash. I look at the sky again, suddenly realizing that they aren't clouds blocking out the sun, but huge billows of smoke.

I airbend myself dry, pull on my warmer clothes that were laying in a heap on the sand, and hurry towards the hills that block my view of the village. I reach the top of a hill at the same time three others do, coming from the opposite direction.

"Is there a fire in the village?" I ask immediately.

And then it hits me—these are not villagers.

I take them in; three, fierce-looking men, wearing robes of black and red. Two had fiery helmets, and all three had a Fire Nation insignia upon their breast. What looks like the leader of the group has no helmet, and a massive, burn scar across his right eye is the only blemish on his face. His long hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and a harsh look is on his face.

I take an unsure step back, and one of the masked guys says, "She's just a villager."

The scar-faced man—who is obviously the leader—smiles and quickly punches a fist of fire at me. I shriek in surprise, and reflexively bend the fire away from me and into the empty cove.

Whoops. Now I can only use firebending—which is bad, because airbending is my stronger suit—unless I want them to know my secret. And of course I _don't._

Yeah, I can bend air _and _fire. But it's not like I'm gonna tell _them_.

"A firebender?" he scoffs, "Living in the southern earth kingdom."

"Why?" one with a helmet asks with a sneer. "You a traitor?"

Scar-face's face hardens at this statement, and he signals for them to attack me. And all three of them charge. I defend myself surprisingly well, considering I absolutely suck at firebending, and can't use airbending.

Finally, I can't firebend their vigorous attacks away any longer, so I attempt to use my airbending to knock them all over, then run for it. But of course, Fate has different ideas.

Just as I start to run from the three fallen firebenders, swarms more appear. I skid to a halt and try to change direction, but there's nowhere to go.

Then Scar-face is back up. He walks towards me, his triumphant smile sending chills down my spine.

"I expected more of a challenge," he begins, "When I defeated the Avatar."

There's a pain in my skull, and then…nothing.

**

* * *

**

I wake up in a dark room, lit by the glow of a sole lamp. I look at my surroundings to find that I am in what must be a prison, because the relatively small room is lined with barred cells. My clothes are not the ones I was wearing before, and I am now in a plain shirt and pants in the Fire Nation colors. I shiver when I think about how they got there. There are seven different cells here, and everything is made of metal. But mine is the only cell occupied.

I try to get up, but my hands and feet are tied. I attempt burning the ropes, but they must be made of tiny metal fibers, because they just heat up and I burn myself. I curse out loud, and lay back on the floor, glad for the cold metal flooring beneath my burnt wrists. A few moments later, I kick my feet around, realizing that when I laid my ankles against the floor, the ropes became loose around the top. After a little while of kicking around, one foot escapes the bindings, and the other quickly follows. I try the same maneuver with my hands, but they're too tight, and it's really painful.

I sit up, stretching my legs in different directions. It feels really good, and I wonder how long I've been down here. There are no windows in this tiny room, just the one door. There's no way of telling where I am, except I think I must be on a ship, because the floor sways gently this way and that.

I don't know what to do now. There is nothing in the room but me and the lamp. Nothing to help me escape.

I use a cold, steel wall to help me stand up. The chilly floor has leeched me of all my warmth and I shiver. My hands are cold from inadequate circulation, so I wiggle them around.

Seconds later, the door slams open, and a huge Fire Nation guy steps into the room carrying a bowl. He unlocks and opens the door to my cell, places the bowl to the floor, unties my wrists, and leaves without saying a word. But of course he doesn't forget to lock my cell.

There's some sort of broth in the bowl, with the occasional vegetable floating leisurely around in it. I smell it, and my stomach growls. I take a tiny taste of the soup, afraid that they've poisoned it. It tastes just fine, so I start to eat it, common sense reminding me that if they'd wanted me dead, I'd be long gone.

When I'm done, I set the bowl down and wait. For what, I've no clue. I eventually fall asleep, and when I wake up my old bowl is gone, and my wrists are tied again. I scramble into an upright position, wincing as my blistering wrists scrape against the metal cord. They must be starting to chafe along with the burns. I scoot over to the wall and lean against it, glad for the support and the cool metal against my sore wrists.

Just as I was starting to doze off again, the door opens, this time more slowly. An old man comes in, carrying a bowl. He's wearing the traditional Fire Nation colors, but not any uniforms the men wear. He walks up to my cell, knocks on the door, and asks politely, "Hello, my name is Iroh. May I come in?"

"Uh, sure," I say quietly, not sure what to expect.

He unlocks the door, enters, and closes the door behind him. The bowl is placed on the floor in front of me, and he takes a seat directly across from me. In the bowl is some sort of porridge. A 'spoon' is in it, or I guess what passes as a spoon in the Fire Nation—to me it's just a rectangular piece of wood that can be used to shovel food into one's mouth. He gestures towards the food, and my stomach rumbles. It _smells _okay…

"Looks good," I murmur.

"Then eat."

I lean over so he can see my bound wrists. He makes disapproving clicking, and moves to take them off. His hands are very gentle on my sore wrists, and I thank him.

"Oh, no need to thank me. Sometimes my nephew's ways can be a bit…excessive."

"Your nephew?" I ask in surprise, and then take a bite of the porridge. Tasteless, but hey; it's food.

"Yes. He would be the one that attacked you back in the Earth Kingdom."

I stop eating. He'd said 'back in the Earth Kingdom', so where were we now? He must have seen my look of confusion, because he continues.

"We are now headed towards the northern reaches of the South Pole. It is a little out of our way, but there was a storm that needed to be avoided, and we are in need of more supplies."

"Where are we going after that?" I ask meekly, afraid that I know the answer already.

"The Fire Nation," he replies solemnly, my fears confirmed.

"Why?" I say, in hardly a whisper. "And…what about me?"

"You are the reason we are on our way to the capital of the Fire Nation," he begins, almost sadly, "Where you will be either permanently imprisoned or...killed."

"Oh," I murmur.

I push the rest of the porridge away, no longer the least bit hungry. He looks from the bowl, to me, and lets out a big sigh. I wrap my arms around my knees and tug them closer, the child-like notion of 'if I make myself little, they can't see me' running it's course. He sighs again, takes the bowl, and begins to stand.

"Why?" I say quietly as his hand begins to pull the cell door open.

"Because," he begins with a deep breath, "My nephew has it in his head that the only way to restore his honor is by bringing you back to his father, the Firelord."

"But…I'm nothing special," I try, but he looks at me doubtingly.

"The master of all four elements? You call that nothing special?"

"Well, not all four," I clarify, "Just Air and—sort of—Fire."

"Ridiculous," he laughs. "Just because you have not yet mastered all of the elements, does not mean that you do not—"

"But I don't," I state, hope flaring up in me. It's some sort of mistake! "I can only bend Air and Fire. I'm not even from a family of benders—of _either kind _of bender that _I _am!"

He pauses. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," I say with a sigh of optimism. "_Very _sure."

"Then we have a very big problem on our hands."

And he exits the room without another word.

* * *

Iroh forgot to tie my hands back up, but still I can think of no way to escape.

So his nephew was the prince of the Fire Nation. Prince Scar-face. And he'd said something about restoring his honor; the question was, how had he lost it?

I lay down on the hard floor, putting my arms under the back of my head and stretching out my legs. I'm not really tired, but as time goes by and I have nothing to do, I become drowsy. I fall asleep for a few minutes, then wake up. Then I do it again, before settling into a half-awake, half-asleep sort of state.

The door abruptly bursts open, and three large men enter, open my cell, and drag me away. I am now wide awake. I try to keep pace with the two holding my arms as we follow the third, but I'm so much smaller that I can hardly keep up without running. We go left, then right, and then left again. We reach a stairway, and the men practically carry me up them so I don't fall behind. I wonder where we're going?

The first one opens a door, and brilliant light reaches us. I close my eyes immediately, the brightness hurting them. I am taken outside, my feet no longer touching the ground. We go towards the front of the ship, and an icy wind blows through my thin garments. I open my eyes slowly, and see that we are approaching Prince Scar-face and Iroh. I look around before we get there, and see that glaciers float around the ship, reflecting sunlight everywhere.

When we reach him, my captors throw me to the ground, and step back. Prince Scar-face looks down at me and scowls.

"So, you told my uncle that you are _not _the Avatar."

I nod.

"How can I know that's true?"

I open my mouth to reply, but I can think of no way to prove that I cannot bend water or earth. Proving that you _can_ bend two elements is one thing, but proving that you _can't? _He would just think I'm lying.

And suddenly I think of something.

"If I could bend water, I'd be long gone by now," I say quietly, not wanting to make him angry; I get the feeling that he's the type of person that becomes enraged in an instant.

He raises an eyebrow. "Or you haven't learned it yet," he suggests. "Or, you're lying."

"Well, how am I supposed to show you that I _can't _bend two elements?"

He looks thoughtful for a moment, then turns to Iroh and mutters something to him. Iroh's eyes go wide, and he begins to say, "I do not think your idea is—"

"Silence, Uncle!" Prince Scar-face yells. Then he turns to me. "Follow me."

I obediently follow him, afraid to do anything else. If I were a better airbender, I could escape over the water. If I was a better firebender, I could have fought them off back in my village. But I am not a master airbender or firebender, so I will do what he says.

"This is how you can prove you're not the Avatar," he says, pointing over the railing.

"Nephew, I do not think—"

"It doesn't matter what you think, old man," Prince Scar-face says angrily._ I really should find out his name…_ "Look over," he tells me, and I obey.

I look out at the black, unwelcoming water below. Chunks of ice float around randomly, and I know it is absoutely freezing. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I tense up, bracing myself for the fight I'm sure he's planning.

But instead I'm pushed forward, falling down into the icy waters of the arctic.

* * *

**Oooh, a cliffy.**

**So what do you think so far? Please review, and tell me!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	2. Rescued

**This is a somewhat long chapter. Don't get used to it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Book 1**  
Water

**Chapter 2  
**Rescued

* * *

I scream as I tumble through the air, towards the dark, cold water below. Just before I hit what would have been a rock-hard surface, I slow myself with airbending. But, as I've stated before, I'm no master, and I slowly slip into the water anyway.

That idiot. What did he think would happen? I'd suddenly know how to waterbend? What a jerk. And now I'm freezing my butt off in glacial waters. I'm probably going to die now. Thanks, Prince Scar-face. I'm tempted to shout it out loud, but he still might have them throw something down for me to catch. I can always hope.

"Why don't you waterbend?" he calls down mockingly, and I glare up at him.

Oh, if I wasn't so against violence, I'd sock him in the face next time I saw him. Break his nose to go along with that lovely scar.

I try to warm myself by rubbing my arms and legs together, but it's difficult while trying to keep myself afloat at the same time. I look at my surroundings to see if there's anything I can climb onto and out of the freezing water. A small chunk of ice about the size of a roomy, one-person tent floats merrily along about 15 feet away. I send one more glare at the ship, then swim towards the ice float.

I climb aboard, using airbending to help me climb onto the slippery ice, then to dry me off. I'm still ridiculously cold, but now that I'm dry, the wind doesn't bite as much. I bring my knees closer to me and wrap my arms around them for warmth.

"Come on, come back to the ship," a soldier shouts, "We'll throw you something!"

I shake my head vigorously, and hear laughing. I'd love to go back to the warm ship, filled with warmth and fire…

And that gives me an idea. It might not work, but it's worth a try. Fire flares at one hand, and the other I use to control the air. I use a combination of my airbending and firebending to create a ball of warmth around me. It feels so good, and I instantly relax. Then I use airbending to propel my little iceberg towards what I think is land, or at least an area where what's left of the Southern Water Tribe may be close to.

I hear shouting from the ship, and when I look back I see one of the Fire Nation soldiers barking out orders at the rest of the crew—who are scrambling all over the place—and Prince Scar-face glaring at me murderously. I wave at him with a grin, knowing that even at the relatively slow pace I'm going, there's no_ way _the huge ship could catch up with me now.

And then I see the little lifeboats being lowered into the water. Great. I forget about keeping myself warm, and blast fire and air at once to make me go faster. The fire and air flick around each other gracefully, and if it weren't for the mini-fleet of lifeboats headed for me, being driven by three to four soldiers' fire, I would have very much enjoyed watching it.

I will again point out the obvious; I'm no master bender. And of course Fate has a grudge against me, so naturally they catch up with me. I push the elements as hard as I'm able, but still it isn't enough. The Fire Nation lifeboats pull up beside me, and as they take aim, I blow them all over with a huge gust of wind. I try to evade them, but at this point I know my attempts are futile.

My feet are freezing cold, and my teeth are chattering like squirrel monkeys. I can't just give up, but what if there's nothing out there? What if I don't find anybody? I look back at the ship, massive and foreboding. _I can't just give up, _I think, narrowing my eyes. And so I fight.

I fight mostly defensively, the way I was taught by my father. He said that while the enemy attacked you, they expended their own energy until they were too tired to do anything. Meanwhile, you've stored up your energy by only defending yourself, and you're able to finish the fight; either by escaping unscathed or dealing the final blow. I would just run, seeing as I don't approve of violence unless neccesary.

I miss my father, but he's away fighting the war. Not that I'd be able to see him even if he were home, seeing as I'm…abroad. My mom says I look a lot like him because I have his small, straight nose, leaf-green eyes, and wavy, light black or dark brown hair that's usually in a braid. Not his, mine. But now it's swirling around me in the tornado of wind I'm using to deflect their blows. It's a sloppy move, but it works.

All at once, I see one give the others the signal to attack, I create a fire-proof shield of wind in front of me, and a hand abruptly snakes around my waist and pulls back. I fall into the man behind me, who uses one arm to pin my arms to my body, and the other to cover my mouth and restrain my head. As I struggle we start to slide off the chunk of ice, but he calls for back up and they pull us onto a boat. I shake him free as we're heaved onto the boat, but several more grab my arms and legs.

By the time we get back to the huge ship, they've tied my hands. We're lifted back onto the deck, and then _they _lift_ me _over to where Prince Scar-face waits for us. He scowls at me, and I scowl back, no longer afraid of him. I don't know what's changed, but I'm just not as intimidated as before. My fear for him has turned into defiance.

Then his face turns placid, but I can still see the distaste in his eyes.

"You're right," he starts, confusing me. "You're _not _the Avatar. I should have known. You're too young. It was too easy to beat you."

"Hey—"

"That beam of light yesterday, Uncle. I had my doubts when I saw it but now I'm sure. _That _was the Avatar. Not this…"

I glare at him, waiting for him to continue.

"…child."

"I am going to bed," Iroh says quickly, looking thoroughly disgusted. He turns from his nephew and goes below deck.

Prince Mood-swings motions for the guards to carry me away. Just as I'm lifted off the ground, a huge _crack! _resonates across the open water, and from the way I was trying to escape to, the smoke from a flare hangs in the air. He dashes over to his telescope, aims in the direction of the flare, and watches something from it.

"The last airbender…" he begins, then looks over at me. "The last _noteworthy_ airbender, anyway. Quite agile for his old age. Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar..."

My guards take this as a cue to start pulling me back to my prison. I struggle a bit, but again it is futile, so I relax.

"As well as his hiding place."

* * *

After they brought me back to my cell, I quickly fell asleep, exhausted from the exertion. And plus, it's not like there was anything else to do.

Now I wake up to weird noises what sounds like a couple hallways over. I get up to move, but my hands—rather than being tied together like before—are now restrained to the wall, with a thick piece of metal like a manacle at each wrist, screwed into the wall behind it.

I start to hear strange noises…like yelling, then someone being slammed into a wall repeatedly, then doors quickly opening and closing.

_Creak…WHAM. Creak…WHAM. Creak…WHAM. Creak…_

"_Sorry…_" I hear someone say a few doors down, before the noises of opening and closing doors continue after a soft, _click._

_Creak…WHAM._ _Creak…WHAM. Creak…_

"Hey!"

I look up, realizing it was _my_ door that has been opened this time. A short boy with a shaved head is standing in the doorway, dressed in baggy, red and yellow clothes. Blue arrows adorn his bare head, hands, and feet.

"Uh, hi." I reply quietly, attempting to get to my feet again.

The boy looks around outside before entering the room. He stops in front of my cell, staring at the lock as if that will burn it away.

He 'hmms' in thought before snapping his fingers, a bright smile lighting his face. "I'll be right back."

"And I'll be right here…" I grumble quietly.

After a few more distant _Creak…WHAM_s, I hear, "_My staff!_"

I hear another voice, a familiar voice, but it's too low for me to understand. Suddenly, I hear crackles of fire, the roar of wind, and after several minutes two loud slams.

And the arrow-headed-boy is back, this time holding a long, thin staff with funny slits near the top and bottom.

"Um, step back," he insists.

"I'm chained to the wall."

"Oh, yeah."

He breathes on the door of my cell, causing it to ice up, then takes his staff and slams the end of it against the lock to my cell. I duck my head as pieces of icy shrapnel fly past. He steps back and blows the door open…_using airbending._ I just sit there, shocked. After I haven't moved, he comes to me, breaking my shackles off the same way he opened the door.

"You're…you're an…an…" I start, but he pulls me out of the cell hurriedly, and out of the room. He looks both ways and decides to go left, dragging me behind him. He pauses as we reach an intersection, and I turn to face him. "I—I thought there were no more…"

He ignores me, and I finally snap out of it. I mutter an apology, my face burning.

"It's OK," he replies instantly, finally deciding on straight and up the stairs. I'm now running beside him rather than being dragged behind him. "If I'd just seen what I'm told is the last airbender, I would be freaking out, too."

"No, I mean that I'm—"

And then the kid throws open a door to a room with a bunch of levers and gears and stuff. He starts to mess with some of it. The ceiling above us cracks in two and begins to open. He speeds the process by airbending it open as I watch in awe. He has such beautiful form…

He grabs my hand, and uses his superb airbending to jump us onto the deck. I didn't even know you could do stuff like that…

He throws the staff into air, and little wing-like things snap out from the sides of the front and back. He jumps after it, grabs a hold of it, and uses airbending to—fly? Now _that's _impressive.

The crew is now flooding the deck. They see me and the arrow-headed boy, and start throwing fire at us. Just as I'm about to be engulfed in flame, I'm pulled off the deck and into the air. I look up, and the boy is using one arm to hold me, and the other to hold his…flyer thing.

A hand reaches up and grabs my leg, and the weight is too much. I look down to see Prince Moody Scar-face clinging to my leg and try to shake him off, but it's too late, and we fall back towards the deck. I land on my butt with a _thud, _the boy uses airbending to land gently, and Prince Scar-face does some fancy flips in the air to land in a crouching position.

"What is that?" he asks as he stands up.

Everyone looks to see what he's staring at, and the boy shouts "Appa!" warmly at the great, fuzzy, white animal flying through the air, toward us.

Seconds later, Prince Scar-face is punching and kicking bursts of fire at the boy. He spins his flyer thing to create a shield of air that deflects the firebender's attacks, then turns it upwards and the force of the spinning pulls him off the deck. I gaze at him in awe, not noticing the firebenders coming up behind me until they've grabbed my arms. I kick backwards, but one captures my foot and holds it, leaving me virtually helpless. I attempt a few airbending moves, but they're too close for them to work.

I look back to the arrow-headed boy just to see him land on the edge of the deck precariously. He quickly regains his balance, but after Prince Scar-face throws several more balls of fire at him, his flyer is knocked from out of his hands. He avoids a couple more attacks, but is ultimately knocked overboard.

"No!" I shout, as another cry comes from the flying animal, "Aang, no!"

The firebenders holding me grunt in satisfaction, and start yanking me backwards, into the ship. I kick my feet and try to elbow them in the face, but soon a very large one swings me over his shoulder, and my attacks are futile.

The cries of "Aang! _Aang!" _continue from the white creature, and I wonder how it can talk. And wish I could airbend like he could. I try to use it once again to get away from my captor, but it has little effect on the man.

I can suddenly hear a loud roar accompanied by splashing, and I look up to see the boy—who's name I will assume is Aang. He's high up in the air, held by a twisted pillar of water. The blue arrows on his body and his eyes are now glowing with a white light. The man carrying me turns around to see what's going on, and I twist around to try and see what will happen.

Aang lands on the deck, the water following him to form a circle around him. He spreads his hands, and the water flies in all directions, knocking almost everyone off the boat. Since the attack was directed at the man carrying me, as he is swept from beneath me, I fly into the air. Landing with another _thud,_ my breath is momentarily knocked from me.

"Did you see what he just did?" I hear as the huge animal grows closer, followed by, "Now _that _was some waterbending."

Gasping for air, I see Aang's glowing eyes and arrows begin to fade, and he falls to the ground. The giant fuzzy thing lands on the boat, and I see two people jump off a saddle strapped to it's back. Oh. Well, that explains _that._

"Aang! Are you okay?" the girl exclaims, kneeling next to Aang; cradling him. The boy follows her and stands next to him.

Neither seem to notice me get to my feet and approach them.

"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming," Aangs says weakly.

"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory," the boy says, looking around the nearly empty ship.

"I dropped my staff," Aang continues.

"I got it!" the boy says, darting away to retrieve Aang's staff from the edge of the deck. When he gets there, he grabs one end, but the other appears to be stuck on something. He gets an angry look on his face and yanks it up, before using it to poke something over the side. I hear the clinking of chains, and he yells, "Ha! That's from the water tribe!"

Suddenly, some of the knocked over guards remaining on the ship get to their feet, and get into a fighting stance. The girl must be a water-bender, because she uses the remaining water on the deck to try and attack them, but ends up freezing it all behind her, including the water around the boy's feet.

"Katara!" the he yells, and the soldiers start forward again.

He starts to break the ice off himself, and the girl picks up more water. She turns around, and without looking she throws it at them, leaving them frozen, then proceeds to climb aboard the giant, white fuzzball.

"Hurry up, Sokka!" she yells, and I head towards the muttering boy, intending to help him out of his predicament.

"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and—Hey, who're you?" he asks with suspicion as soon as he notices me.

"A very nice person who's helping you out of the ice?" is my reply.

I pull his arms, and cracks form in the ice around his feet. I pull harder, and it falls apart. He stumbles forward, causing him to slip, fall, crash into me, and send us both flying across the ice towards Fluffy. I run into it, and he runs into me.

"Ouch."

"Get offa me," I grunt as I push him away.

He scrambles to his feet, helps me out of Fluffy, and then runs up it's wide tail. I stand there, unsure if I should follow him, when Aang says, "Well, are you coming?"

I nod, grateful for his timing. I clamber up the tail as fast as I can, then jump into the spacious saddle.

"Yip yip! Yip yip!" the boy—who I presume is Sokka—yells as he grabs Fluffy's reins and, with a grumble, we take off. He turns back and throws the staff to Aang.

"Huh?" I just barely hear as we fly away.

Iroh is standing just outside the door leading into the hull, rubbing his eyes. He sees Prince Scar-face hanging from the edge and helps him onboard.

"Shoot them down!" Prince Scar-face yells.

Then he and his uncle shoot a huge blast of fire at us as one. And here I'd thought he was a nice old man.

Aang hops forward and uses his flyer-staff accompanied by airbending to hit it off course. It shoots back towards them, and explodes as it hits an iceberg right above the ship, thoroughly coating it in ice and snow.

As we leisurely drift from the wreckage, Aang comes to sit next to me, with the others sitting across from us.

"You're an airbender! Which means I'm _not _the last one!" he says with shock, although a smile creeps onto his face. He sees my questioning look, and says, "I saw you airbending at those guards when they grabbed you."

"Well, actually, I can also—"

"So guys," he interrupts, "I met her in the Fire Nation ship. That's Sokka, and that's Katara. Sokka and Katara, this is…um…"

"Anala," I put in.

An absolutely enormous smile brightens his face. "Anala. I like it."

Sokka pushes Aang away to seat himself between us. Aang mutters "Hey!" but Sokka ignores him. He holds out his hand to me.

"It's nice to meet you, Anala," he says as he shakes my hand. He looks me up and down, scrutinizing me. Suddenly his eyes go wide. "You're…you're kinda cu…ool. You're pretty cool."

I raise my eyebrows at him, but he's suddenly acting like he hasn't a care in the world.

I get a closer look at Sokka and Katara. They _must_ be brother and sister. They both have mocha skin, and dark brown hair—his in a cropped ponytail, hers in a long braid. They're wearing light blue parkas that match their eyes perfectly. And those parkas remind me of how cold I am in just my thin, black and red clothes.

"So," I begin, trying to forget about the cold, "You can bend two elements? Like m—"

"No, he's the avatar," Katara interrupts, almost bouncing with excitement. "And how did you do that? With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!"

Aang hangs his head. "I don't know. I just sort of…did it."

"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"

"Because…I never wanted to be."

During the whole exchange I am silent. Avatar? What was an Avatar? I'd heard it uttered by some villagers, travelers, and refugees—and of course, Prince Scar-face—but no one had ever explained it to me beyond that.

"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war," says Katara.

But how can one person—let alone, a _child_—stop a hundred-year war?

"And how am I going to do that?" Aang voices my thoughts.

"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?"

"That's what the monks told me."

"Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending."

"We can learn it together!"

"And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way."

"I'd like that. I'd really like that," Sokka says, almost dreamily.

"And Anala, I can teach you airbending," Aang says it like a bribe. "Not that you aren't good already, just that…well, there's always room for improvement!"

"Then we're in this together," Katara finishes.

I nod, but I'm still utterly confused. When she'd said 'master water, then earth, then fire', did she mean that he could bend all the different elements? I am tempted to ask about it, but from the way everyone's been talking about it, it sounds like a well-known and very important fact, and I'm afraid they'll think I'm stupid.

But I'm _really _curious.

"Hey guys, what's an Avatar?"

* * *

**Please review, guys. You **_**know **_**you want to…**

**You're Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	3. The Southern Air Temple

**I have nothing to say. **

**For now...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Book 1  
**Water

**Chapter 3  
**The Southern Air Temple

* * *

After I'd asked them what an Avatar was, they'd given me looks of disbelief for about four minutes straight, then happily explained it to me. I wonder how I've never before heard of an all-powerful being that controls all four elements.

When it got dark, we'd landed for the night, and slept on the beach of an island. I didn't have a sleeping bag, but Katara had packed some blankets that she'd let me use.

Now it was morning, and I was told we were going to the Southern Air Temple. Sokka still wasn't awake, but Katara and I were packing up.

"Wait 'til you see it, guys. The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world," Aang says as he walks across Appa—the name of the big, white, furry thing I'm told is a sky bison—tightening his reigns.

"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been Home," Katara says gently.

"That's why I'm so excited!"

"It's just that a lot can change in all that time."

"I know, but I need to see it for myself."

He walks over to Sokka, still curled up in his sleeping bag. "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!"

"Sleep now…temple later…" Sokka grumbles, rolling over onto his side.

Aang looks disappointed at first, then his face brightens as if he's got an idea. He picks up a stick, and walks back over to Sokka.

"Sokka, wake up!" he says as he begins to drag the stick across Sokka's sleeping bag. "There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"

"Ah!" Sokka shouts, startled awake. He jumps up and starts hopping around—still inside his bag. "Get it off, get it off! Ah!"

Katara and I laugh at him as he falls over and lands facedown, and he shoots us agitated looks.

"Great, you're awake!" Aang exclaims happily. "Let's go!"

On the way to the Air Temple, Katara and I tried to explain to Aang that it wouldn't be the way he remembered it, but he just kept insisting that "Just because no one has _seen _an airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all," and "The only way to get to an airbender temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison."

When we can finally see the air temple, it's breathtaking. It looks like it's been built into a mountain. Long, twisting paths connect everything, and small towers protrude from the sides of the mountain. A huge stone tower seems to poke out from the top of the mountain itself.

"Aang, it's amazing!" Katara yells over the wind.

"We're home, buddy. We're home," Aang murmurs to Appa.

I however, am speechless. I'm getting a weird vibe about this place; like déjà vu, but not quite.

Aang lands Appa in front of the temple, and we all get off. We walk up the pathway, and Aang looks excited to be here. Sokka and Katara are behind us, bickering about being hungry versus being one of the select few non-airbenders allowed into the temple.

"So that's where my friends and I would play airball!" Aang tells me, pointing downward towards a field with dozens of posts inside it and a goalpost at each end. Then he points at a wall of rock with large dens cut out of it. "And...over there would be where the bison would sleep...and..."

He sighs, and a saddened look crosses his face. I hesitantly put my arms around him in a hug, knowing—or at least _thinking _I know—how horrible he must be feeling to see his home like this; so desolate and abandoned-looking. He smiles sadly at me when I pull away.

"What's wrong?"

Okay, that was just stupidity on _her _part. What did Katara _think_ was wrong? He just came back home after one hundred years to find it completely deserted, and after being told that everyone he knew and loved was ruthlessly killed by the Fire Nation!

"This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds," Aang explains, motioning dejectedly to the empty temple. "I can't believe how much things have changed."

"So, uh, this airball game. How do you play?" Sokka tries to distract him.

Aang immediately brightens. They walk towards the field as Aang tries to explain the game. Katara and I follow to watch them play.

Twenty minutes later, Sokka comes flying toward us for about the fifth time. Katara and I take a step apart, and Sokka flies right in between us.

"Hahaha! Aang seven, Sokka zero!" Aang laughs from the field.

"Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt," Sokka whines. Then he seems to notice something and crawls towards it. "Hey—check this out."

"Fire Nation," Katara mutters darkly.

I look where she's glaring and see an old Fire Nation helmet. I narrow my eyes, and Sokka continues, "We should tell him."

"I don't know…" I begin. I think we should break it to him slowly.

"Aang, there's something you need to see," Katara says anyway. Aang heads toward us, happy as can be, and Katara seems to have a change of heart. She waterbends some snow to cover the helmet, her brother, and the bottom half of me.

"What is it?" Aang asks when he gets closer. Sokka and I brush the snow away from us, careful not to uncover the helmet.

"Uh…just a new waterbending move learned."

"Nice one. But enough practicing," Aang says as he walks away. "We have a whole temple to see!"

"He'll find out sooner or later," I say quietly.

"You can't protect him forever," Sokka agrees.

They start arguing about telling him, and I go catch up with Aang. He's going towards a statue of an airbender monk sitting outside a doorway, a happy look on his face.

"Hey guys," he calls back. "I want you to meet somebody."

"Who's that?" Sokka asks.

"Monk Gyatso, the greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know."

Aang bows to the statue, a happy look on his face, like he's recalling a cheerful memory. Something inside me stirs at the mention of his mentor's name, but I ignore it.

"You must miss him," Katara murmurs as Aang stands back up.

"Yeah."

"Where are you going?" I ask when he starts to go inside.

"The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet."

I look at Sokka and Katara, wondering if they understand this cryptic statement. They just shrug.

We follow Aang through the temple, until he stops suddenly. I look up to see a huge door with two large horn-like contraptions forming a ring around the three spirals that signify airbending, that can obviously only be opened through airbending.

I freeze; that door is _so_ familiar. Scarily familiar. But I know I've never been here before in my life.

And suddenly I'm seeing black.

_A small crowd of about nine monks hurries towards the Air Temple Sanctuary, along with one young woman who is clearly not an airbender. As they approach the Sanctuary, one of the monks hurries everyone inside as screams and explosions shake the whole temple._

"_Hurry, Gyatso," the woman shouts over the noise, pushing him inside before shoving the door closed, just as the ceiling crumbles right where he'd been standing just moments before._

"_Thank you, Fai," he says softly, stepping away from many of the statues lining the great room._

"_You're very welcome."_

_One of the monks points at Fai, his stubby finger shaking. "This is all_ your _fault! You should have protected us! You were supposed to—"_

"_Enough, Chintzu!" a different monk demands. "This was not her doing. She couldn't stop them."_

"_Couldn't stop them?" Chintzu continues. "But she could have! She has the power! She's the—"_

"_The Fire Nation will destroy us all; every last airbender!" one of the monks inturrupts his accusation desperately. _

"_Maybe not," says Gyatso calmly._

"_What do you mean?" another demands. "How could we possible survive this? They shoot down everyone that tries to escape!"_

"_There may be another way—"_

"Anala? Anala!"

"No!" I cry, sitting straight up. What was he going to say? Were there airbenders hiding away somewhere, waiting until the war was over to return? And that woman…she seemed so familiar. Maybe I know one of her daughters, or even grand-daughters…

"What?"

I look up, and all three of them are staring at me. I realize I've fallen to the floor. My cheeks burn and I shakily get to my feet.

"Sorry," I mutter, embarrassed about…whatever just happened.

"We were just about to go into the Sanctuary," Katara explains, "Aang needs to meet someone here."

"Oh. I'll…I'll wait here," I say quickly. I can't go in there, not after…

"Well, do you want me to wait out here with you?" Sokka asks kindly.

I'm very tempted to accept his offer, but I just need to be alone right now. To think. And plus, after that…vision, if that's what it was, inside the Sanctuary seemed like the safest place for them to be.

So I shake my head. He asks if I'm sure, and I tell him that I'll stand guard, only half-joking. They all go in, and I'm left to think. What just happened? I wonder if this place is so divine that it was trying to give me a message…to tell me something.

I can hear them talking inside the Sanctuary, and I would like to join them, but I just can't go in there.

A small animal silently creeps past me, and into the Sanctuary. I watch it as it walks slowly into the cavernous room, causing a huge shadow to fall across the floor. The talking comes to a sudden halt, and it's completely silent except for the animal's quiet footsteps.

Suddenly, it runs back out, followed by Aang and Sokka. They continue to chase it, pushing each other out of the way as they run down the long hallway and out of sight. But Katara doesn't come out. A few minutes later I almost go in to check on her, but she runs out, tells me to follow her and runs the same way Sokka and Aang went.

We reach a set of abandoned tents, and it seems as if a windstorm is destroying it all. Katara and I look at each other in alarm, and run forward, right into it. I see Aang, hovering in an untouchable ball of wind. His eyes and arrows are glowing again, and I remember what he did last time this occurred.

"What happened?" Katara asks Sokka, who clings to a rock as a strong gale tugs at us.

"He found out firebenders killed Gyatso!"

"Oh no, it's his avatar spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm going to try and calm him down," Katara yells as the wind roars around us.

"Well, do it before he blows us off the mountain!" Sokka shouts back. He turns to me moments later. "Can't you…I don't know, un-airbend what he's airbending?"

"No," I reply, raising my voice against the wind. "Maybe if I was a master, but even then, if he's doing his almighty Avatar thing…"

"Hmm…Point taken."

"Aang, I know you're upset," Katara yells, "And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love. I went through the same thing when I lost my mom. Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka and Anala and I, we're your family now."

"Gyatso wouldn't want this, Aang."

Katara and Sokka look at me curiously, and I shrug. I don't know why I said it; it just kind of slipped out.

Aang slowly lowers to the ground, and the air around us calms.

"We aren't going to let anything happen to you," Sokka says solemnly. Katara takes Aang's hand.

His eyes and arrows fade until they're back to normal. Exhausted, he collapses, and Katara gently catches him.

"I'm sorry," he mutters.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Katara reassures him.

"But you were right. And if firebenders found this temple that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last—well, the second to last, airbender."

We all comfort him, and I suddenly feel extremely guilty for the airbenders' demise. As we walk out of the tent I look back. The skeleton of Gyatso lies peacefully in an almost meditating-like position. I swallow, and my eyes burn. A single tear escapes, and I turn away to catch up with the others.

* * *

**Hahaha. I love sneaking the title in my stories. It's so...I don't know...dramatic. Or something.**

**So I've started writing the next few chapters, and I realized tht it's pretty much Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I do not own) plus Anala. I added some new stuff that has to do with Anala, and I tried so summarize some parts, but I want to know what you think. Will y'all get too bored if I do that for a while? Some things will definately be added, like specifically Anala events**** (coming soon)** or parts that weren't shown in the series, and things like that.

**Reviews are greatly appreciated :)**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	4. The Warriors of Kyoshi

**Book 1:  
**Water

**Chapter 4:**  
The Warriors of Kyoshi

* * *

There's a new addition to our small family.

Aang decided to adopt the lemur he found at the Air Temple. His name is Momo, and he's such a cute little guy.

Sokka's examining a map, Katara's sewing up a hole in Sokka's pants, Aang's sitting on Appa's head with Momo, and I'm…well, I'm still thinking about what happened at the Air Temple Sanctuary.

Aang and Sokka are discussing where we're headed next. I get the feeling that we're lost, from what they're saying. A few minutes later, Aang tries to show Katara some marble trick, but Katara says, "That's great, Aang," without bothering to look up from Sokka's pants.

"You didn't even look," Aang states glumly.

"That's great!" Katara says after she looks up from sewing.

"But I'm not doing it now."

"Stop bugging her, airhead," Sokka says while he relaxes back on a pack. "You need to give girls space when they do their sewing."

"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara says, now agitated. I personally didn't find his statement offensive at all. He was just trying to get Aang to leave her alone so she could get her stuff done. I wouldn't have even connected what he said to being sexist.

And then he opened his mouth.

"Simple: girls are better at fixing pants than guys, and guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."

I raise my eyebrows and meet Katara's eyes, and we both look at Sokka.

"All done with your pants! And look what a great job I did!" Katara says with mock cheerfulness. She throws the pants at Sokka, and they fly right into his face.

"I don't think I've ever seen finer work, Katara," I play along, while Sokka takes them off his head and sees that there's still a huge hole in the back.

"Why thank you, Anala!"

"Wait! I was just kidding," Sokka pleads, putting an arm through the tear, "I can't wear these! Katara, _please!"_

"Relax, Sokka. Where we're going, you won't need any pants!" Aang says cheerfully. What a strange statement.

He pulls the reigns to the side, and Appa swoops down towards a island in the middle of the ocean. We land on the beach of a small lagoon, and Aang jumps from Appa and lands gracefully on the ground. I watch him carefully, and try to mimic his action. I maneuver the air around me as I fall, making it slow me so I could drop gently to the ground, almost as flawlessly as Aang did it.

"How was that?" I ask him tentatively. It's kind of weird being trained by someone younger than you. I mean, I guess I'm only two years older than he is, and technically he's one-hundred and ten years older than me, but still—it's different.

"Good!" he exclaims, smiling warmly at me. "You're catching on really fast."

I grin happily back at him. Aang and I have seemed to form a quick friendship. I think we're both glad to meet another airbender, and are kind of sticking together because of it.

"We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?" Sokka asks carefully.

"He's right," Katara agrees, their earlier quarrel forgotten. "At this rate we won't get to the North Pole until spring."

"I don't see the problem with having a little fun on our way to the North Pole," I disagree. Those two are so uptight.

"Yeah, and Appa's tired already, aren't you boy?" Aang asks the giant bison. When he gets no reply, Aang nudges him and says, "I _said_, aren't you boy?"

Appa lets out a huge yawn.

"Yeah, that was _real_ convincing," Sokka says. "Still, hard to argue with a ten ton magical monster."

"_Look!"_ Aang yells, pointing out into the lagoon.

A gigantic fish leaps from the water, creating huge waves in all directions. Aang starts to strip down to his underwear, for some reason extremely excited.

"That's why we're here," he continues. "Elephant koi! And I'm going to ride it. Katara, Anala, you've gotta watch me!"

"You're going to ride a giant fish?" I ask in bewilderment. Katara and Sokka look just as mystified as me.

Aang dives into the water, jumping out a few seconds later to shout, "_Cold!"_ Katara and I look blankly at each other, and Sokka twirls his finger next to his head in the _he's totally crazy_ kind of way.

I look back at Aang, who's just gone under. One of the elephant koi leaps out of the water, and I can see Aang standing on its back, holding onto its fin. He looks so tiny compared to the monstrous fish.

Beside me, Katara starts waving and cheering him on. He waves back, yelling and laughing. I can tell he's really enjoying himself. Momo is jumping up and down, watching Aang excitedly.

"He looks pretty good out there," Katara exclaims.

"Are you kidding?" Sokka counters. "The fish is doing all the work."

I laugh at his comment, and he seems very pleased with himself.

"No, Appa! Don't eat that!" Katara cries suddenly as she runs to stop the giant bison from eating some weird purple and orange plant with massive thorns.

"What is that?" I ask when I turn to watch Aang again, pointing at a huge shadow in the water behind Aang's fish. Sokka looks where I point. "Do you see that?"

"There's something in the water!" he shouts.

The koi right behind Aang's koi is suddenly pulled underwater. I gasp, and Momo starts screeching at Aang, now jumping in distress rather than excitement.

"What's wrong?" Katara yells as she joins us.

"Aang's in trouble!" Sokka replies.

"Aang!" I shout. "Get out of the water!"

Katara and Sokka are shouting at him too, but Aang can't hear what we're saying.

His fish comes to a dead halt, and Aang goes flying forward as the koi is tugged underwater. He yells as he flies through the air, then falls into the water with a splash. An enormous shadow engulfs him, coming from a fin that's even bigger than an entire elephant koi.

Aang quickly notices, and lets out a scream. He turns to flee, literally running on top of the water, and the fin turns towards him and starts to follow him. It slowly gains on him, but Aang reaches the shore just in time. He doesn't stop in time, though, and slams right into Sokka, while the giant fin silently slips back into the water.

Aang quickly gets up, while Sokka, who was pinned against a tree, sits there—stunned. When Sokka finally gets to his feet, Aang starts putting his clothes back on.

"What _was _that thing?" I ask as Katara and I join them.

"I don't know," Aang says, clearly bewildered.

"Well, let's not stick around to find out," Sokka exclaims. "Time to hit the road."

I see movement from above, and we're suddenly attacked by a group of…people in green. The four of us—and Momo—are quickly subdued, tied, and blindfolded. I'm thrown to the ground, and from the sound of it, the others quickly follow.

"Or…we could stay a while," Sokka continues timidly.

We get dragged back to a village. They tied us to a wooden pole and began to interrogate us, but the whole thing turns out to be a mistake. They thought we could be Fire Nation spies trying to pull the island—named Kyoshi, after it's founder, Avatar Kyoshi—into the war. I think it was partly because I was still in the red and black clothes the Fire Nation had dressed me in on the ship. After Aang proved that he was the new Avatar, they happily released us, and treated us with the highest respect.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, which was ridiculously tasty, I helped Katara gather food and supplies—a sleeping bag and non Fire Nation colored clothes for me—for the trip, while Aang was goofing around with his many admirers, and Sokka was…somewhere. After that, Katara started practicing her bending, and I told her I was going outside to do the same.

I walk into the forest just outside the town, and keep going until I find a clearing to practice my firebending in. I feel bad that I haven't told them, but I tried to when we first met, only no one would listen. I had never exactly _hidden_ my abilities back in my village, but only my parents, brother, and the town's healer know about my double bending. My parents had never told me to hide it; I guess I've just always instinctively avoided showing people.

Once I'm there, I get in a stance somewhat like I'd seen the firebenders do when they'd attacked me. I tried to remember some of the motions they had done, and do my best to replicate them. I think I'm doing pretty well, considering I've never had a teacher.

After a while, I try to use my airbending and firebending at the same time. I make a little fire-storm thing, careful to keep it small enough to extinguish with my hands. I practice this for a while, then try a few other things. Next I use the air around my fire to create delicate twists and turns in the streams of fire, even becoming good enough to draw a simple picture and let it hang in the air.

I hear something noisy, and I stop my bending so I can hear what's going on. A loud commotion is coming from the village, and I start running out of the forest to see what's happening. When I come around a building, I see the Kyoshi warriors battling firebenders on strange animals. When I look further down the road, I can see Prince Scar-face battling Aang. I rush to his aid, but am ambushed by Fire Nation soldiers. I decide to use my fire-storm on a larger scale, and use it against the men attacking me.

Fire shoots from my hands and a huge gust of wind rips the flames from my fingers, into a swirling whirlwind. The men are picked up off their feet and blown in all directions. I stop the air, and the fire fizzles into nothing. That was extremely effective. I look around to see the Fire Nation soldiers pretty much defeated, and run off to join Aang, Katara, and Sokka on Appa's back. As we lift off, Aang looks back at the burnt and partially destroyed town with guilt.

"I know it's hard, but you did the right thing," Katara comforts. "Zuko would have destroyed the whole place if we had stayed. They're going to be okay, Aang."

I'm just about to ask who Zuko is, when Aang jumps off Appa and into the water below.

"What are you doing?" Katara screams over the side.

A few moments later, Aang resurfaces, but he's on the head of the Unagi—what we came to find out was what had taken down the elephant koi when we first arrived. He pulls on the giant sea-serpent's whiskers, and uses it's water spout to put out the fires in the village. It finally rears it's head, and Aang flies off, only to be caught by Appa.

"I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous," Aang says as he climbs onto Appa.

"Yes, it was," Katara answers, but then hugs him.

I take the opportunity to ask Sokka who Zuko is.

"He's the prince of the Fire Nation," he explains, "You know, the one who keeps attacking us. But for some reason he's been banished."

So Prince Scar-face has a name.

"Speaking of Zuko, did you see me and Suki take him out?" Sokka continues excitedly. I shake my head, and he tells me all about it.

I try to tell him about my awesome fire-storm, but I am, of course, interrupted by Aang.

"Next stop; Omashu!" he exclaims, putting away the map.

"What's in Omashu?" I ask curiously.

Aang looks at me deviously and says, "You'll see."

* * *

**King Bumi...More than meets the eye... (sing to the tune of the _Transformers_ theme song :)**

**Reviews would be nice. _Very_ nice. _Extremely _nice. Like, _I would love you forever _nice. So please; indulge me.**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


	5. The King of Omashu

**So it's been a while. I apologize for the wait, for some reason I just couldn't get into this story. Not writer's block, exactly, just...not writing. Y'all should check out Fyre's Guide to Creativity; that's what got me back into the swing of things! It's totally RANDOM!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Book 1  
**Water

**Chapter 5  
**The King of Omashu

* * *

"Here it is, guys! The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu!" Aang exclaims as we break over a hill. Ahead of us was a massive city built around a mountain. "I used to always come here to visit my friend, Bumi."

"Wow," Katara says as she admires the city, "We don't have cities like this in the South Pole."

"They have buildings here that don't melt," Sokka says in utter shock.

"This place is amazing," I add, completely awestruck.

"Well, let's go slow-pokes! The real fun is _inside _the city!"

"Wait, Aang!" Katara stops him as he heads towards the city. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."

"You need a disguise," Sokka agrees.

"So what am I supposed to do? Grow a mustache?"

"That's not such a bad idea…" I say slowly.

"Huh?"

I walk over to Appa, and sift my fingers through his thick hair. "Sorry, buddy," I apologize before gently yanking out several tufts of fur. He rumbles at me, but doesn't seem to mind. I ask Sokka for some rope, and fashion a mustache and some really tall hair from the fur, then stick it on Aang's head.

"There," I say happily, satisfied with my creation.

"Not bad," Sokka says as he examines my handiwork. "Not bad at all."

"Ugh, this is so _itchy_," Aang complains, fiddling with his 'hair'. He turns to Appa. "How do you _live _in this stuff?"

Appa faces him and blows air through his nostrils.

"Great, now you look just like my Grandfather," Sokka declares.

"Technically, Aang _is _one hundred and twelve years old," Katara replies.

"Now let's get to skippin', young whippersnappers!" Aang says in a gravelly attempt at an old person's voice. "The big city awaits!"

I can't help but laugh at his imitation, and Aang smiles at me through his mustache. He uses his staff as a walking stick and starts hobbling off towards Omashu.

A narrow path of rock acts as a bridge across a huge chasm surrounding the city, clearly the work of many talented earthbenders. When we've almost reached the entrance Aang tells us, "You guys are gonna love Omashu. The people here are the friendliest in the world."

We look at the guards watching the entrance, and there's a merchant trying to get into the city.

"_Rotten cabbages?_ What kind of slum do you think this is?" the leader of the guards shouts at him. He crushes the vegetable he's holding, and then uses earthbending to send the cart of cabbages flying into the deep valley below.

"No! My cabbages!" the merchant wails. Katara and I exchange an alarmed look.

"Just keep smiling," Aang mutters, continuing forward.

We approach the men guarding the entrance, and the leader swiftly earthbends a huge boulder right over Aang.

"State your business!" he shouts harshly.

"My business is my business, young man, and none of yours!" Aang shouts back in his old man voice, getting right up into the man's face. "I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!"

I stare at him, terrified of how the guard will react. By their horrified expressions, Sokka and Katara seem to have the same mindset.

"Settle down, old timer," he says to Aang, an almost concerned look on his face. "Just tell me who you are."

"Name's Bonzu Pipinpadaloxicopolis…_the Third!_ And these are my grandkids."

"Hi, June Pipinpadaloxicopolis. Nice to meet you," Katara improvises.

"You seem like a responsible young lady," the guard finally replies. "See that your Grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu!"

"We sure will," I say as I hurry Aang forward, waving back at them.

"Wait a minute," the guard says suddenly. We turn around quickly. "You're a strong young boy," he continues, addressing Sokka. "Show some respect for the elderly and carry your Grandfather's bag!"

"Good idea!" Aang agrees, all too happy to throw his bag in Sokka's direction.

Then the men earthbend the walls of Omashu open and we look on in awe. As I walk forward, I admire the beautiful buildings and arches, watching as separate crates of many differing contents fly around in strange shoots. I'd heard about how grand Omashu was, but I'd never imagined it like _this_.

"This is the Omashu delivery system," Aang explains. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes. Earthbending brings the packages up, and gravity brings them down."

"Great, so they get their mail on time," Sokka says indifferently.

"They _do _get their mail on time," Aang concurs as a sly look crosses his face. "But my friend Bumi found a _better_ use for these shoots."

"And what's that?" I ask, slightly suspicious.

"The world's greatest super-slide!"

Katara and Sokka look at each other, and I just stare at Aang. Then I look at the 'super-slide'. Then I look back at Aang.

"No way," I say decisively. I point at the ground. "I'm staying right here."

"Aw, come on, Anala," Aang begs me. "_Live_ a little!"

"I think I'll pass. You guys go have fun, and I'll wait _right here_."

"Well, if you change your mind, we'll be right up there."

He points almost straight up, towards the beginning of the shoots at the top of the mountain.

"See you in a bit!" Katara shouts behind her as Aang drags her and Sokka up towards the top.

"See you in _multiple_ bits," I joke to myself. I take in my surroundings, enjoying just looking at the city.

It soon gets old. _Shouldn't they be back by now? _I wonder anxiously. I shade my eyes and look at all the different shoots. I don't _see _them…so I wait a little longer. And a little longer after that. I pace back and forth, my patience and nerves wearing thin. Where _are _they? Do they expect me to just sit here all day?

Apparently so, because even as the sun started to create longer and longer shadows, they still weren't back. I decided to ask someone for help, although I wasn't sure exactly _what_ I was asking. A grocer told me to see the King of Omashu, and gave me directions. I was a little nervous about seeing him, him being a King and all, but what else could I do? I have no idea where to even _start_ looking for them.

So I'm going to the palace to see the King. When I arrive, they let me right in. I was surprised that there wasn't more security. I'm escorted to the throne room, where there are only two guards. At the far end of the room, a throne stands at the end of a green carpet, surrounded by the only guards there. Sitting in the throne is an ancient-looking man. There's something…different about him. I can't tell if it's because he looks slightly familiar, or if he seems a bit…well, senile.

"Hello, Your Majesty," I say politely as I bow. Maybe I was supposed to curtsey, because I'm a girl…? Oh, well. "My name's Anala, and I—"

"Anala, eh?" he interrupts musingly. "You know, it has a meaning?"

I shake my head. My Grandmother had asked my parents to name me Anala with her dying breath, and they had gladly obliged.

"Three, actually," the aged King continues. "Anala means _fire_ and _wind_, in the old language."

I freeze. Fire and wind? Had my Grandmother known—?

"And the number _three_," he continues, appearing not to notice my shock, "But _that's_ irrelevant."

He finally notices my lack of a response. Getting to his feet, he ambles towards me. He dismisses his guards, and carefully examines me as they leave. Once they're gone, he finally speaks.

"You can bend air as well as fire; can't you, Anala?"

I look at him nervously, remembering how I'd ended up imprisoned the last time an outsider found out my secret. But for some reason I trust him, and I nod.

"I thought so," he mutters, nodding to himself. "How old are you, Anala? Fourteen? _Fifteen?"_

"I'm fourteen," I answer slowly, questioning the strange, almost suggestive way he'd said _fifteen; _like it meant something.

He just nods thoughtfully.

"Well, you're welcome to stay the night," he says after some time. "You'll be led to your room."

"But, Your Majesty, I—"

"And tomorrow I'm putting on a sort of show, if you'd care to join me?"

"Certainly, but I need to—"

"Well, goodnight!"

"Wait! I—"

But it's too late. He must be an earthbender too, because one of the walls suddenly opens, he slides through, and it slams closed again—leaving me alone and bewildered. Moments later, a woman enters the throne room and escorts me to my chamber for the night. I follow her to a nice little room with a large bed, a writing desk, and a dresser. The colors are all earth tones and it's got a very calming atmosphere, but that doesn't do much to ease my worry for Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I crawl into bed after several minutes of indecision, and sink into a troubled sleep.

* * *

"Ah, Anala! How lovely to see you again!"

The king walks towards me, dressed in an absolutely outrageous purple outfit. I bow to him, deciding that it was best considering I'm wearing pants and therefore have no skirt with which to curtsey.

"Um, good morning Your Majesty," I begin. "Well, the whole reason I came here in the first place was because my friends went…somewhere yesterday, but they never came back, so I was wondering if—"

"Don't worry, your friends are safe and sound," he assures me, dismissing it with a wave of his hand. He then puts his hand on my shoulder and starts to lead me down a hallway.

"Well, then where are they?" I ask warily. "And how do you even know _who_ they are? I haven't told you yet."

"All will reveal itself in due time," he replies evenly.

We go down a long hallway and turn left into another hallway with a huge set of doors at the end. When we approach them he slows to a halt and turns to face me. I hear a loud grinding noise from behind me, and there's suddenly a big doorway he has earthbended out of the wall.

"Turn left when you go in," he tells me as we walk towards the gap, "And just keep going."

I step through the doorway hesitantly then hear the grinding noise a second time, and it's suddenly very dark. I whip around to find that the door is gone, and the king is no longer with me.

"Great," I mutter, having no choice but to start forward.

After a while, I start to see a subtle glow from up ahead, and hurry to see what it is. I sigh in relief when I see Sokka and Katara with three men. I hurry to catch up with them, but quickly realize that they aren't _with _the three men, they are being _escorted_ by the men as though they're prisoners. I come to a halt, but one of the men heard me. I turn around to flee, but there's suddenly a wall where I was standing just moments before.

One of them leads me to the others, and they continue to take me, Sokka, and Katara to an unknown destination. It quickly becomes known, however, when we come to a stop in front of a wall.

Katara and Sokka hadn't spoken, but I don't know if it's because they were told to remain quiet or not.

"So guys," I say brightly, my voice echoing in the hidden hallways. "How'd you—"  
"Silence!" my personal guard hisses. I guess that answers my question.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood," I mutter my retort.

Sokka snorts and says, "Ha! _'Lighten'_…get it? 'Cause it's all dark?"

With another loud grinding noise, a doorway is created into one of the larger hallways, and the King of Omashu speaks to Aang as if he's halfway through a sentence.

"So I will give your friends some special souvenirs. Those delightful rings are made of pure genemite, also known as creeping crystal. It's crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be completely covered in it. Terrible fate, really. I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."

As he talks, the guards around us force a thick, crystal ring onto each of our hands, and mine immediately shrinks against my finger so that it's too tight to get off. I try anyway, but it's no good.

"Ah! It's already creeping!" Sokka wails hysterically as his ring grows.

At the same time, my genemite ring gets really warm, glows for a moment, and grows a few centimeters up my hand. Sokka starts whining and clawing at his hand in an attempt to remove it.

"I'll do what you want," Aang says determinedly.

The King smiles, and leads us away. Just while we walk, the crystal encases my entire hand and wrist. I can't help but wonder if the King will tell them that I'm also a firebender. It's not like I'm trying to hide it—in fact, I've tried several times to tell them—it's just that I've always had the feeling that I shouldn't tell anyone.

We're taken to a cavernous room with stalagmites and stalactites protruding from the floor and ceiling. A waterfall cascades down from the top of the room, and a key hangs from a chain within it.

Aang's first 'deadly challenge' is to retrieve the key from inside the waterfall. After two attempts to climb up the ladder in the middle of the strong stream of water and dive into the water for the key, Aang finally succeeds by throwing a pointed rock at the chain holding the key and making it go faster with airbending. The point goes right through the chain, and the key dangles directly in front of the King.

"I want my friends back, _now!_" Aang demands.

"Uh, not yet. I need help with another matter," he replies, suddenly looking sad. "It seems I've lost my pet, Flopsy."

He then takes us to an arena cut into the earth, where a small chipmunk bunny with extremely long ears is sitting on a rock in the center. By this time the crystal is completely covering my arm and lower body, and continuing to grow. Aang jumps down to stand beside the bunny.

"Okay, I've found him."

"Bring him to me!" the King demands, before his voice gets softer. "Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsy!"

"Come here, Flopsy," Aang coos as he creeps forward towards the bunny.

A huge monster jumps into the arena next, right behind Aang, who's thrown into the air from the force of the impact. He turns around slowly, and laughs nervously.

It turns out that the giant monster was actually Flopsy, and as soon as Aang realized that, the thing stopped chasing him and started licking him. With a whistle, the King calls Flopsy to him, and starts rubbing him. Aang jumps up to where we are, and asks if we're okay.

"Other than the crystal slowly encasing my entire body, doing great," Katara assures him.

Yeah, _she's _great. _Her_ crystal grew around her like a nice dress. Sokka's grew around him like a cone. Mine, however, grew straight down. So now I'm about five feet taller than usual, and the crystal around my torso is stabbing into my sides and arm as it holds me up. I somehow managed to keep my other arm out of it. It heats up again, glows, and grows again, but only on one side, so now I'm lopsided. Lovely.

"Come on, I'm ready for the next challenge," Aang says to the King.

He laughs wickedly, and takes us to the last room. I have to be carried there sideways by multiple men. This area looks similar to the arena we just left, but there are seats and balconies that give it a look more like that of a stadium. Sokka, Katara and I are on one balcony with the guards, and Aang is with the King on a larger balcony.

"Your final test is a duel," he begins, "And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent. Point and choose."

Two huge, intimidating men step forward to stand beside the King, each carrying formidable weapons and wearing heavy armor.

"So, you're saying whoever I point to, that's the person I get to fight?" Aang specifies.

"Choose wisely," is his response.

I can see Aang contemplating this, then examining each opponent.

"I…choose…" he begins slowly. Aang points at the King. "You."

"Wrong choice," the elder replies with a laugh.

I can hear numerous revolting cracks as the King straightens, then he tears off his clothes. I gasp; he is the most in shape old man I have ever seen. He's now wearing a green and black sarong, as well as black wristlets. He's got the most muscular build I think I've ever seen, even on a younger guy.

Aang immediately realizes his mistake. The King stomps his foot and a chunk of rock rushes up beneath Aang, sending him flying into the arena. The old man follows with a single bound from the balcony.

"You thought I was a frail old man," the King scoffs, "but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see."

"Can I fight the guy with the axe instead?" Aang tries.  
"There are no take-back-sies in my kingdom," he declares. "You might need this!"

He motions for one of the guards to throw Aang his staff. Aang expertly catches it, just in time to use it to dodge the King's earth attacks. He evades the flying boulders and walls slamming out of the ground for a while, but soon the King gets the upper hand. Almost as quickly, it seems like Aang is winning.

The battle ends when the King rips a huge piece of earth from the wall and floor of the stadium, and heaves it at Aang. As it's flying towards him, Aang is creating a funnel that captures the earth in it's tow, then whips it back at the King. When he sees it coming back at him, the King cracks it in half with earthbending, and Aang comes flying through to face him, pointing his staff at the old man's throat.

Aang smiles. The King smiles. A pebble falls on Aang's head, and he frowns as he looks up to see the giant stone suspended above him.

"Well done, Avatar," the King chuckles. "You fight with much fire in your heart."

He throws the boulder off to the side, falls back, and seems to melt into the floor, popping up from the earth in front of Katara a few seconds later. Aang leaps up after him, landing in a defensive stance.

"You've passed all my tests; now, you must answer one question."

"That's not fair!" Aang protests. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests!"

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?"

"Oh, come on!" Sokka moans. His face is completely surrounded by the crystals.

"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free," the King promises. "What…is my name?"

Everyone looks at him blankly.

"By the looks of your friends, I'd say you only have a few minutes."

And with that, he leaves.

* * *

We're just about to go.

As it turns out, the King of Omashu was Aang's old buddy, Bumi, who was just trying to mess with Aang's head; and teach him to think outside the box. Or something…

At the moment, Aang and King Bumi are riding down the mail systems, like they used to when they were—well, back when Bumi was a kid. I can see the two dizzily totter out of the cart from where I stand beside Sokka and Katara, who are not willing to go on it again. I'm still fighting the urge to say, _I told you so!_

King Bumi and Aang laugh a little, but things quickly become serious, and they start to stroll over to us. Bumi is talking to—well, maybe more like giving a lecture to—Aang, whose head suddenly snaps up to stare at us. I wave at him, and he waves back, almost skeptically. I hope King Bumi didn't tell him that I was a double-bender—I wanted to do that, myself. Or at least attempt to.

When they come close enough to be within earshot, Bumi shouts a good-bye, and starts walking merrily back to his home. Aang comes over to join us.

"What's wrong, Aang?" Katara asks him when he doesn't say anything.

"Yeah," Sokka agrees, "What'd King Bumi say to you?"

He looks at me quizzically. "He said to keep you close, because you'll be a crucial and powerful ally when it's time to end the war."

"But what does that_ mean_?" Katara asks, looking at me.

"It's probably because I can bend—" I begin.

"_Maybe _it's because you're going to do something amazing and totally unexpected and singlehandedly put this war to an end," Sokka says, studying me and stroking his lack of facial hair.

I raise my eyebrows at him, and Katara looks at him doubtfully. Although Aang looks intrigued by the idea.

"Nothing against you, Anala, but 'singlehandedly put this war to an end'? I don't think so," Katara says.

"I don't know, Katara," Aang replies, before looking at me. "I found you in the Fire Nation prison cell. You had to be there for some reason, right? Can you do something…dangerous? Special?"

I open my mouth to respond, but Appa suddenly lands behind us, catching everyone's attention and causing them to forget about what we'd been talking about just moments before.

I sigh. This is what—the sixth time I've tried to tell them I can bend fire? And _every time _someone—or some_thing_—interrupts me. I really do want them to know, it's just…not easy.

I sigh again, and follow the others onto Appa's saddle.

* * *

**Oh yeah. The bit where it says Anala means Fire and Wind and Three is true, according to some baby name website. It's Sanskrit, apparently.  
If this is not true, blame the baby naming website. **

**Reviews are greatly appreciated and awarded with Awesomeness!**

**Your Pal,**

**SuperOreoMan**


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